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Crux
April 12 2015
The pope called the Armenian slaughter a genocide, and Turkey's not happy
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 12, 2015
ROME -- While honoring the memory of Armenian martyrs Sunday, Pope
Francis said they had been killed "in the first genocide of the 20th
century," prompting Turkey to recall its Vatican ambassador in
protest.
Crux confirmed by phone with the Vatican's embassy in Ankara that
Turkey had recalled its ambassador, although the embassy to the
Vatican declined comment. The diplomatic row comes despite the fact
that Pope Francis was simply quoting a 2001 declaration by Pope John
Paul II and the head of the Armenian church.
Meanwhile, Turkey said it conveyed to the Vatican its loss of trust in
their relationship, according to the Associated Press. In a statement,
Turkey said the Pope's message had contradicted his message of peace
and dialogue during a visit to Turkey in November. It said that a
response would be forthcoming. The Foreign Ministry said that it had
expressed "great disappointment and sadness." The statement also
called the Pope's message discriminatory because he only mentioned the
pains suffered by Christian Armenians and not Muslims and other
religious groups.
It's a matter of duty, Francis said Sunday, to remember "that immense
and senseless slaughter" whose cruelty Armenians had to endure, "for
whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester."
The pontiff was referring to the death of an estimated 1 million to
1.5 million Armenians as the Ottoman Empire crumbled at the end of
World War I, which Armenians term a "genocide" and Turks insist was
the result of a civil conflict. Turks typically also claim that the
Armenian death toll has been inflated.
Francis was speaking during a Vatican Mass with a number of Armenian
dignitaries present for the 100th anniversary of Armenian suffering.
The pontiff linked that calamity to contemporary anti-Christian
persecution, since the vast majority of the Armenian victims a century
ago were Christians. He said that today, too, the world is indifferent
over "a sort of genocide" as Christians and other minorities are
decapitated, crucified, burned alive, or forced to leave their
homeland.
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it!" the pontiff said.
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/04/12/the-pope-called-the-armenian-slaughter-a-genocide-and-turkeys-not-happy/
From: Baghdasarian
April 12 2015
The pope called the Armenian slaughter a genocide, and Turkey's not happy
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 12, 2015
ROME -- While honoring the memory of Armenian martyrs Sunday, Pope
Francis said they had been killed "in the first genocide of the 20th
century," prompting Turkey to recall its Vatican ambassador in
protest.
Crux confirmed by phone with the Vatican's embassy in Ankara that
Turkey had recalled its ambassador, although the embassy to the
Vatican declined comment. The diplomatic row comes despite the fact
that Pope Francis was simply quoting a 2001 declaration by Pope John
Paul II and the head of the Armenian church.
Meanwhile, Turkey said it conveyed to the Vatican its loss of trust in
their relationship, according to the Associated Press. In a statement,
Turkey said the Pope's message had contradicted his message of peace
and dialogue during a visit to Turkey in November. It said that a
response would be forthcoming. The Foreign Ministry said that it had
expressed "great disappointment and sadness." The statement also
called the Pope's message discriminatory because he only mentioned the
pains suffered by Christian Armenians and not Muslims and other
religious groups.
It's a matter of duty, Francis said Sunday, to remember "that immense
and senseless slaughter" whose cruelty Armenians had to endure, "for
whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester."
The pontiff was referring to the death of an estimated 1 million to
1.5 million Armenians as the Ottoman Empire crumbled at the end of
World War I, which Armenians term a "genocide" and Turks insist was
the result of a civil conflict. Turks typically also claim that the
Armenian death toll has been inflated.
Francis was speaking during a Vatican Mass with a number of Armenian
dignitaries present for the 100th anniversary of Armenian suffering.
The pontiff linked that calamity to contemporary anti-Christian
persecution, since the vast majority of the Armenian victims a century
ago were Christians. He said that today, too, the world is indifferent
over "a sort of genocide" as Christians and other minorities are
decapitated, crucified, burned alive, or forced to leave their
homeland.
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it!" the pontiff said.
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/04/12/the-pope-called-the-armenian-slaughter-a-genocide-and-turkeys-not-happy/
From: Baghdasarian